Research Assistant, APC Microbiome Ireland

3 Months, Specific Purpose, Part-Time Post

Position Summary

Applications are invited for the role of Research Assistant within APC Microbiome Ireland.

As evidenced by a growing body of literature, the gut microbiome plays an important role in inflammatory bowel diseases. However, collections of large microbiome datasets originating with patients with these multifactorial and heterogenous diseases require innovative study designs and state-of-the methodology, including next-generation sequencing, metagenomics, multivariate statistics and machine learning (ML). Our lab has accumulated several such large published and unpublished microbiome datasets derived out of various body sites, including longitudinally collected samples. The successful candidate will fine-tune and optimise the use commercially available Large Language Models to parse, extract and interpret the most useful peer-reviewed scientific information of inflammatory bowel disease within public repositories. Experience with previous such work is required.

The appointee will be part of an interdisciplinary team of scientists and will work in the School of Microbiology and the APC Microbiome Institute, with frequent meetings with international and industry partners. A collaborative, analytical and methodological mindset is therefore essential.

UCC is an accredited research organisation and as such can form hosting agreements with third country nationals (and non-EEA nationals) for the purpose of conducting research in the University.

Project Title: Optimising Large Language Models for Microbiome Research

Post Duration: 3 Months, Part-time post

Salary: €32,962 - €42,943 per annum, IUA Salary scale, pro rata 0.8 FTE

For an information package including further details of the post see https://ore.ucc.ie/.

Informal enquiries can be made in confidence to Marcus Claesson, Associate Professor in Bioinformatics, School of Microbiology / APC Microbiome Ireland, Tel: + 353 (0) 21 4901390; Email: m.claesson@ucc.ie

Applications must be submitted online via the University College Cork vacancy portal (https://ore.ucc.ie/). Queries relating to the online application process should be referred to recruitment@ucc.ie, quoting the job-title and project name.

Candidates should apply, in confidence, before **12 noon (Irish Local Time) on Friday, **25th of April 2025

No late applications will be accepted.

Please note that an appointment to posts advertised will be dependent on University approval, together with the terms of the employment control framework for the higher education sector.

UCC is committed to creating and fully embracing an inclusive environment where diversity is celebrated.  As a University we strive to create a workplace that reflects the diversity of our student population where people from a wide variety of backgrounds learn from one another, share ideas, and work collaboratively. UCC is committed to being an employer that recognises the value of diversity amongst its staff.  We encourage applicants to consult our policies at https://www.ucc.ie/en/edi/policies/ and initiatives at https://www.ucc.ie/en/edi/implementation/ and we welcome applications from everyone, including those who are underrepresented in the protected characteristics set out in our Equal Opportunities & Diversity Policy. 

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CORK IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES EMPLOYER